The Green Party does not need a big personality like "pint waving" Nigel Farage to be more successful at the ballot box, according to Natalie Bennett.

The Green leader told IBTimes UK that her party wants to concentrate on serious policies and not be led by a person who "tosses their hair around and waves a pint".

"We want to talk about making the minimum wage a living wage, renationalising the railways, keeping our NHS public, zero tuition fees – that's the kind of thing that politics should be about," Bennett said.

The Australian-born politician has been leader of the party since Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas, the most high profile figure in the party, stepped down in 2012.

She argues that herself, Lucas and Jenny Jones – a former deputy mayor of London and a Green Party peer – make an effective team, along with the party's three MEPs in the European Union (EU) Parliament.

The party has seen its membership rocket by 100% in the year to December.

The so-called "Green surge" has seen the party, which was found in 1973, double its membership in 11 months.

The party now has more than 27,618 members, but the Greens have been excluded from the three party leader debates, due to be held ahead of the 2015 General Election next May.